Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"They have a slave with them from the sound of it." Fiona said softly, the full helm still on to disguise the fact that she was a woman underneath the armor. "The tavern owner wants the horses back if possible. Marlisa wants blood for what they did to her husband and I want this to end with a message to Barbarossa that we will not be cowed."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Then we will take the one responsible and leave the other to crawl back to Vienna. And the werecat will be spared." Invah kept low so not to be seen over the trees. "I will follow your lead."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona dismounted as Invah laid out their plan, her weapon drawn just in case. She could fight but she wanted to leave the heavy lifting up to Invah if she needed to. She would be the one to put fear in their hearts.

 

[KieranSoares]

Invah stood ready at the edge of the stand of trees, letting Fiona go in first. The two humans were sitting at the fire, one nursing a wounded arm and the other some sort of head wound. A dark werecat was tending to them, but was met mostly with silence on the humans' part.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona approached the camp cautiously, pausing when they spotted her. She raised her crossbow, holding it on both men without saying a word for a long moment.

"I believe you know why I'm here." She finally said, her identity still obscured by the full helm she was wearing.

 

[KieranSoares]

Both men turned their heads, hands reaching to their swords until they saw her crossbow. The one with a wounded arm growled, "Scheid! Fass!" He looked to the werecat, who had frozen in place watching Fiona. He glanced to the assassin, hesitating against the command to attack like a warhound. "Fass!" The assassin repeated, and the Panther finally drew a saber, leveling it at Fiona.

"Halten, vermissen," the Panther murmured calmly.

 

[heartofcourage]

"My fight isn't with you. I offer you your freedom once this is done." Fiona said as she glanced towards the panther. "I have been asked to draw blood for the life of the king. I intend to do that and send a warning to your coward of a king."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Scheid!" The assassin snapped, but the Panther didn't strike. He stepped between Fiona and the assassins, unable to understand Fiona's words.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Run." Fiona muttered softly to the panther, knowing that there was a language barrier, but unsure how else to communicate to him. "To the dragon. She will protect you."

 

[KieranSoares]

The werecat didn't move, his brow furrowed in confusion. But with the long silence, Invah grew worried and intervened. She appeared behind Fiona and the Panther's ears flattened in sudden terror. His saber dropped from his hand and the two men behind him began to flee.

Invah leapt forward, the Panther ducking low to the ground as Invah's claws caught the two men quite painfully, pinning them and leaving shallow cuts in their backs.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Which one smells the most of blood?" Fiona asked Invah, holding her cross bow on the two men as the panther stood there in terror. "I will kill the one that injured Gallus and let the other go back to Vienna."

 

[KieranSoares]

Invah paused, looking to Fiona as the two men beneath her claws struggled and the Panther slowly backed up, seeming to finally understand he was not a target.

"Are you so sure you want to kill, little one?" She asked softly. "I won't stop you... But you can't take it back."

 

[heartofcourage]

"If I don't, Sam will." Fiona said, looking up at Invah with a torn look in her blue eyes. "And I don't want anymore blood on his hands. His soul can't take it."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Then Sam aside, do not kill him now. Take him to face justice properly, and execute him where the queen and the people may witness if they choose, and see justice done for their king." Invah picked the man with the wounded arm up and then dropped him before Fiona, a claw still poised on the tendon in his leg to stop him from running or acting out. The other, she set on his feet and spoke to in German.

The man stared up at her in absolute terror as she gave him orders to take their warning to Barbarossa, and the personal warning of Invah Kyre herself, before she let him scamper off without a horse.

The assassin before Fiona glared up at her with absolute hatred, but kept still even as the Panther slowly approached, offering a rope out to Fiona.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Tell him to tie hi tightly." Fiona said, her crossbow still leveled on the man as the panther offered her rope to tie the man up with.

 

[KieranSoares]

Invah relayed the message and the Panther complied, binding the man's wrist tightly and then his ankles with enough length to walk but not run. The man spat at the Panther, only for the Panther to in return take off his own collar and place it around the man's neck in a silent show of defiance.

The Panther bowed his head with a hand on his heart to Fiona and then to Invah, and from there followed obediently. He disarmed the assassin completely and took a sword and knife for himself.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Can you carry all three of us?" Fiona asked as she finally relaxed, reaching up to pull of her helmet for the first time.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Easily. But this one doesn't get a proper seat." Invah muttered with a look at the assassin. "I'll keep a tight grip on him." She knelt down for the Panther and Fiona, but the Panther shook his head and motioned toward the horses while speaking to Invah. "He says he'll bring the horses back and meet us at the courtyard gates."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Give him one of your scales if you can spare it, Invah. We will tell the guard to look out for that for identification." Fiona said as she pulled herself back into Invah's saddle to wait for the interaction to take place.

 

[KieranSoares]

Invah nodded, able to take a sliver of scale the size of the Panther's palm from an already-loose scale. She told him quickly what to do with the horses and he nodded his understanding before Invah took to the sky in a rush of wind. The journey back took a bit longer than the first, thanks to stopping now and then to keep their prisoner fed and alive. Invah wouldn't let the man ride in the saddle for fear of him attempting to attack Fiona, carrying him in her hands the whole way and silencing any complaints with a warning touch of her claws or a squeeze.

By the time they landed back in Glasgow castle's courtyard, they'd been gone three days. It was a foggy, early morning and they were all exhausted from little sleep and the hard flight. Invah touched down, holding the captive man in one hand as she knelt to let Fiona off. Guards approached, and Invah pinned the assassin to the ground while Fiona spoke to them.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona approached the guards, telling them that the bound man was the one that had attacked their king. She had brought him back for judgement and execution while she had let the other go as a warning to Barbarossa. She also mentioned the panther that would be coming soon with identification before she moved to the side and allowed them to take the man that she and Invah had captured.

 

[KieranSoares]

Two guards took the assassin away, and a third faced Fiona. He took her hand and shook it firmly, "Well done, milady. You've done the queen a great service." He let her be after that, and Invah laid down in the grass with a tired sigh.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona watched the three leave with the assassin between them and then turned towards Invah. She took off her helm and a few of the heavier pieces of armor. Then she sank down into the grass beside Invah. She had barely gotten a few hours of sleep from the entire three day flight.

She was just about to say something when the door to the keep flew open and a very dark looking Samuel Ghis started stalking towards her. "I suppose I'm in for a tongue lashing."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam came toward her at a quick walk, in his light uniform armor with clear bags under his eyes as he hadn't gotten much sleep either. "Fiona," he rumbled darkly.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Yes, my love?" Fiona asked with as sweet as a voice as possible.